On Wednesday, 27 March, the Committee on Political Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE) adopted an Opinion that recommends initiating the procedure for Kosovo’s accession to the Strasbourg-based organisation.
This recommendation will have to be confirmed by a vote of the Parliamentary Assembly during its plenary session, which is scheduled to take place from 15 April to 19 April.
The vote will be advisory, and the Committee of Ministers—the body that brings together the permanent representatives of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states—will be responsible for taking the final decision.
However, it is stressed in the Opinion adopted on 27 March that these member states do not have a common position with regard to Kosovo’s status.
Of [the CoE member states], 34 recognise it as a sovereign and independent state, whereas this is not the case for the other 12, including Serbia, which considers “Kosovo and Metohija” to be an integral part of its territory.
The Opinion explains that such recognition is a political decision and remains the prerogative of each state.
“As a result, the ultimate assessment whether Kosovo is ‘a European State’ for the purposes of the Council of Europe Statute will lay with each member State when casting a vote in relation to Kosovo’s membership application”, states the text, which reiterates that this is with the knowledge that the final decision by the Committee of Ministers does not require a unanimous vote and can be taken by a two-thirds majority of its members.
At this stage, the Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Political Affairs is emphasising that membership “should catalyse momentum for Kosovo to continue to make progress in strengthening human rights, democracy and the rule of law and address outstanding challenges and matters of concern”—with “the need to improve the protection of the rights of non-majority communities” included among these challenges.
Link to the Opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/bjp (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)